Famous Short Story Writers - List of Famous Short Story Writers

Short story writers write short pieces of prose fiction that generally focus on a single theme, simple plots and few characters. There is considerable debate surrounding what should be the appropriate word limit for a piece of fiction to be considered a short story; it is generally considered to be between 1000 to about 20,000 words. Edgar Allan Poe, the famous American author regarded to be one of the earliest writers of short stories defined a short story as a short piece of fiction that can be read in one sitting. However this categorization is also subjective, there is no concrete definition of what constitutes the time limit for one sitting. Many novelists begin their career as writers of short stories. Writing shorter pieces of prose before commencing a lengthier piece of work gives them an opportunity to hone their writing skills and get an idea about the readership for their works. It also helps popularize the writer’s name in the market so that any other work by the same author is received favorably. Short stories are mostly based on a single theme that revolves around a small cast of characters, and are usually less complex than novels. Listed below is a collection of the biographies about the lives and works of famous short story writers from around the world.

The Most Famous Short Story Writers

NameBirthdayNationalityBio
Charles BukowskiAugust 16, 1920German, AmericanCharles Bukowski was a German-born American novelist, short story writer and poet
Ruskin BondMay 19, 1934IndianRuskin Bond is an award winning Indian author of British descent
O. HenrySeptember 11, 1862AmericanWilliam Sydney Porter, more famous by his pen name O
Neil GaimanNovember 10, 1960BritishNeil Gaiman is an English writer of novels, short stories, children’s books and other literature
Guy de MaupassantAugust 5, 1850FrenchGuy de Maupassant was an acclaimed French short story writer and novelist
John SteinbeckFebruary 27, 1902AmericanJohn Steinbeck was a celebrated American writer famous for his novel, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’
H. E. BatesMay 16, 1905BritishHerbert Ernest Bates was a famous English writer
Luigi PirandelloJune 28, 1867ItalianLuigi Pirandello was a Nobel Prize winning Italian writer and dramatist
Aldous HuxleyJuly 26, 1894British, AmericanAldous Leonard Huxley was a prominent English writer
Mulk Raj AnandDecember 12, 1905IndianMulk Raj Anand was one of the first Indian writers in English to gain international fame
Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski was a German-born American novelist, short story writer and poet

GermanAugust 16, 19201,866 views

Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov was a celebrated modern short story writer of Russia

GermanJanuary 29, 1860195 views

Irwin Shaw

Irwin Shaw was an American author, novelist and playwright best remembered for his poignant and compelling style of writing

AmericanFebruary 27, 1913197 views

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay or Sarat Chandra Chatterjee was one of Bengal’s most prolific and popular novelists and short story writers

IndianSeptember 15, 1876199 views

Grazia Deledda

Grazia Deledda was a Nobel Prize winning Italian novelist and short story writer

ItalianSeptember 27, 1871176 views

Mo Yan

Guan Moye better known as Mo Yan is a Chinese novelist and short-story writer

ChineseFebruary 17, 1955142 views

Ivan Bunin

Ivan Bunin was an eminent Russian poet and novelist and the first Russian writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1933

RussianOctober 22, 1870214 views

Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow was a celebrated Canadian-born American writer and novelist

AmericanJune 10, 1915229 views

Camilo José Cela

Camilo José Cela was a renowned Spanish writer from the post war Spanish literature period

SpanishMay 11, 1916115 views

P. L. Travers

P L Travers, born as Helen Lyndon Goff, was a mysterious and prickly Australian born British novelist, actress and journalist